Day: June 17, 2018

The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Genre: Family Relationships/Fatherhood/Parenting Boys

1.99 at time of posting! LIMITED TIME ONLY!

An exceptional father-son story from the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me about the reality that tests us, the myths that sustain us, and the love that saves us.

Paul Coates was an enigmatic god to his sons: a Vietnam vet who rolled with the Black Panthers, an old-school disciplinarian and new-age believer in free love, an autodidact who launched a publishing company in his basement dedicated to telling the true history of African civilization. Most of all, he was a wily tactician whose mission was to carry his sons across the shoals of inner-city adolescence—and through the collapsing civilization of Baltimore in the Age of Crack—and into the safe arms of Howard University, where he worked so his children could attend for free.

Among his brood of seven, his main challenges were Ta-Nehisi, spacey and sensitive and almost comically miscalibrated for his environment, and Big Bill, charismatic and all-too-ready for the challenges of the streets. The Beautiful Struggle follows their divergent paths through this turbulent period, and their father’s steadfast efforts—assisted by mothers, teachers, and a body of myths, histories, and rituals conjured from the past to meet the needs of a troubled present—to keep them whole in a world that seemed bent on their destruction.

With a remarkable ability to reimagine both the lost world of his father’s generation and the terrors and wonders of his own youth, Coates offers readers a small and beautiful epic about boys trying to become men in black America and beyond.

When devastating news shatters the life of six-year-old Harvey, she finds herself in the care of a veteran social worker, Wanda, and alone in the world save for one relative she has never met—a disabled felon, haunted by a violent past he can’t escape.

Moving between past and present, Father’s Day weaves together the story of Harvey’s childhood on Long Island and her life as a young woman in Paris. Written in raw, spare prose that personifies the characters, this novel is the journey of two people searching for a future in the ruin of their past.

Father’s Day is a meditation on the quiet, sublime power of compassion, and the beauty of simple, everyday things—a breakthrough work from one of our most gifted chroniclers of the human heart.

In this transcendent memoir, Jas Dosanjh, one of six girls born to immigrants who moved from India to Wolverhampton, tells a raw and harrowing first-hand account of growing up in a harsh, oppressive and male-dominated Sikh Punjabi family. In conversations with her therapist, Jas describes her grandfather’s way of dealing with unwanted daughters.

“My grandfather had eight children. Well, he had more, but he’d disposed of some of ‘em in India as soon as they’d been born.”

“Disposed of?”

“Yeah, you know…strangled, drowned, suffocated.”

Living in modern Britain, but with no intention of integrating into English culture, the men in Jas’s family brought with them brutal beliefs that continued to control and oppress their wives, sisters, and daughters. Women can be beaten merely for talking to a man. Boys are a prized addition, while girls are seen as valueless, a spare burden to be disposed of by marriage to the first available man. Her mother’s determination to have a son creates personal consequences for the entire family and when her uncle kills a Muslim teenager, the noose around the necks of the girls in Jas’s family gets tighter. Even at her comprehensive school, Jas finds the rivalry between Sikhs and Muslims is fierce and she finds herself having to fight for her right to befriend Muslims. Her attempts to break through the gender, religious and racial prejudices surrounding her bring Jas into conflict both outside the home and with those she loves. This captivating memoir describes the fascinating journey a young Jas makes into her teenage years. It will grip you from its very first page, enraging and shocking you at the injustice and blatant inequality suffered by Jas at the hands of her own family.

Part of the difficulty of living with fibromyalgia is that there’s so much we just don’t know about the condition. There’s no cure, and the usual methods doctors use to treat it just don’t work for some people. And as always, when the source of a medical condition is a mystery, people tend to fill in the gaps with some strange theories.

For instance, maybe you’ve heard that fibromyalgia is actually caused by intestinal parasites. It’s typically something you hear on websites that specialize in alternative medicine or maybe even from a friend with the condition who swears that a parasitic infection was contributing to their fibromyalgia.

Of course, the thing about fibromyalgia is no one knows what causes it. And as we learn more about the condition, sometimes we discover that the things that seem sort of unlikely turn out to actually play a role. So, are parasites really causing fibromyalgia? Let’s look at the evidence we have.

Intestinal Parasites

The first and most obvious question to ask when it comes to this theory is, “What kind of parasites are we talking about?” There is a wide range of different parasitic species that can infect humans and all can have a different effect on the body. But basically, there are two different types of intestinal parasites that affect humans.

First, there are protozoa, which are essentially microscopic, single-cell organisms that can reproduce in the human body. Protozoa are usually responsible for relatively common diseases in the digestive tract like giardia. But they can also lead to more exotic infections like leishmaniasis, which leads to ulcers in the skin and can damage internal organs.

Then, there are helminths, which are larger, worm-like parasites. These parasites usually make their way into the body through the skin or the digestive system and begin to reproduce. If you’ve ever had a tape or hookworm infection, then you’ve dealt with helminths.

A lot of different parasites can cause symptoms that are similar to fibromyalgia. Tapeworm infections can lead to abdominal pains and muscle weakness, which are common among people with fibromyalgia. But these larger parasites are usually easy to detect with medical tests. So they don’t quite fit the bill for a parasite that mimics fibromyalgia symptoms without being noticed.

Certain protozoan infections can also cause abdominal problems and fatigue. But they tend to be relatively short-lived infections, which wouldn’t explain why fibromyalgia symptoms last for decades.

So, is there any possibility that parasites can actually cause or contribute to fibromyalgia?

Intestinal Parasites And Fibromyalgia

First, let’s address the idea that fibromyalgia itself is actually caused by parasites. Obviously, it’s not something that doctors have spent much time researching. So, there really isn’t much hard evidence one way or the other. But if we look closely at the condition, you’ll see that the odds of this being the case are extremely long.

To begin, let’s assume that fibromyalgia actually is caused by a parasite.

According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, 3-6% of the world’s population may have fibromyalgia. And if fibromyalgia was caused by parasites, then everyone with fibromyalgia would have to be infected.

Unlike fibromyalgia, which has no obvious symptoms, parasites can be examined under microscopes. That means that doctors, who tend to be a methodical bunch, are missing millions of cases of parasitic infections. Obviously, this isn’t impossible. But it does seem unlikely.

Second, the infection would have to produce the exact symptoms of fibromyalgia. And while many parasitic infections can produce similar symptoms, the difference between the symptoms of known parasitic infections from those of fibromyalgia is significant enough that doctors can usually spot which condition you’re suffering from with the help of some basic tests.

Now, there is a more likely scenario that could link parasitic infections and fibromyalgia. Many people seem to develop fibromyalgia after infections of injuries. It could be that some types of infections can make the immune system hypersensitive. This immune sensitivity might actually contribute to the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

If true, then it’s easy to see how a parasitic infection could have the same effect. But even if parasitic infections can contribute to fibromyalgia, treating the condition probably isn’t as simple as getting rid of the parasites.

Fibromyalgia is a complex condition that seems to be caused by a number of different factors. There are few, if any studies, about the relationship between parasitic infections and fibromyalgia. If parasitic infections do have a link, then it’s probably as a kind of contributing trigger rather than a direct cause.

But if you’re concerned about the possibility of being infected, it’s a good idea to bring it up with your doctor. They’ll be able to test for infection and provide you with good advice.

The preceding article is from FibromyalgiaTreating.com and posted here for sharing purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. For additional information, please visit their website or consult your physician.

I went with the concept of time in general because… Michael Jackson! 😀

Remember the Time was a successful attempt by Jackson in 1992 to create a dance-oriented, new jack swing-flavored jam with the assistance of co-producer Riley. The lyrics are about remembering having fallen in love with someone.

Remember the Time was generally well received by contemporary critics. The song was commercially successful, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Internationally, the song was a top ten hit in nine countries, peaking at number one in New Zealand, at two in Spain and three in the United Kingdom. The song reached the top ten in all major territories.

A nine-minute music video directed by John Singleton, marketed as a “short film”, was released for the song. The video is set in ancient Egypt and features appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, Tommy “Tiny” Lister and Magic Johnson.

A painting worth millions, valuables gone missing, a game that is more than a game. And that’s only the beginning as an elderly widow befriends a young woman and tries to prevent her from making the same mistakes she has made.